Close, it's a goose, and thanks for noticing!
People from the Chicago area might remember a very popular kid's TV show, Garfield Goose & Friends, which aired from 1955 to 1976.
It was a puppet show, and Garfield Goose was the main character, as self-proclaimed "King of the United States". It was the longest running puppet type show, if I recall.
I make reproductions of the puppet, so as a kind of a joke suggested by my friends, who wanted to name the boat after the puppet.
Thanks Mike!

Close, it's a goose, and thanks for noticing!
People from the Chicago area might remember a very popular kid's TV show, Garfield Goose & Friends, which aired from 1955 to 1976.
It was a puppet show, and Garfield Goose was the main character, as self-proclaimed "King of the United States". It was the longest running puppet type show, if I recall.
I make reproductions of the puppet, so as a kind of a joke suggested by my friends, who wanted to name the boat after the puppet.
Thanks Mike!

Welcome aboard Mike, looks like you did well on your first boat. Enjoy.

Thanks for the kind welcome!
We've had her out 4 times now, and have had zero (knocking on wood) problems with the boat performance. Of course, my main use of the boat is to simply get me and my family/friends from the launch to an isolated, sandy beach somewhere on the lake, where we spend as much time as possible standing up to our necks in cool, refreshing water while drinking lots and lots of...water? Nope. Beer.
I can see where the "boat" jokes could get a start, though.
Lucky for me I was able to locate the manuals here, which I am very grateful for, and also lucky that I have always been a mechanic of some sort. Not an expert at anything anymore, but can figure out how to fix almost anything. The internet is really great for info on that stuff.
I have had to replace almost the entire braking system, except drums, including the small surge actuator and master cylinder on the trailer, and replaced all the lines with those new-fangled kind of vinyl ones that flex easily.
Replaced the main running/brake/turning signal lights, and wiring also just to be sure, since they showed OK while sitting still but had intermittent problems while running down the road. After removing & replacing all the old wiring I was glad I did it. There must have been 50 splices altogether, lots of patched together stuff, and not many were well sealed. The new LED lights are brighter and hopefully more reliable than the original. I used marine grade heat shrink connectors and liberal amounts of liquid electrical tape on all connections.
On the boat itself, there's only been a few minor issues that were there when I bought it, and they are all fixed now.
Speedometer not working...simple fix, once I was able to locate the information - which was surprisingly hard to do, for some reason. Is it just me, or does google seem less effective these days?
Anyway, I just got down on the ground under the back - uh, I meant to say stern, and plugged in the connector underneath the drive. Apparently the mechs forgot to plug it back in when the PO had some work done a few months ago, just prior to me buying it.
Fuel gauge...showed no reading or a random reading at times. It was the sending unit. The outside of it is black plastic and showed zero damage or wear, so I took it apart out of curiosity, and man that thing was corroded on the inside. Not too badly priced at $55 for an OEM from Amazon. For anybody who has similar problem, the correct length for the fuel sending unit on a 2001 1800SR is 6.5".
Only other thing is the rev limiter, which isn't really a problem but an annoyance, as Mike here told me it could be overcome by replacing the prop with the stock pitch, or one at least closer to it.
I don't know where I saw it, but I think somebody here said the stock pitch is 23, and the boat has a 19 on it now. Top speed now is about 40 at 4800 rpm. I think the stock pitch would put top speed at closer to 50 or maybe a bit more, does that seem right?
Thanks again for all your help and warm welcome.

Just to wrap this up,
The solution to the engine popping when at or near WOT was (as Mike suggested) to install a 14"x23 pitch propeller, which is what this boat supposedly came with.
WOT is still about 4800 RPM or a bit higher, and the new top speed is up from around 40 to around 50 MPH, and any signs of rev-limiting popping are gone.
Surprising, for me, is that no other aspect of the boat performance has suffered.
A win-win.
Thanks Mike and everybody who helps here!